by Oxford, Rain
“I don’t want to hear any more.”
“Ron and I have two griffins, which are incredibly powerful beasts created by Vretial, but I can’t call one of them to help me without my magic.”
“Your magic is missing? Why didn’t you ask the demon to send one of the griffins to you?”
“Because I’m not thinking clearly right now.”
“Why are you telling me all this?”
“Because one; I don’t know, two; I can’t think, and three; you did agree to marry me.”
“You don’t really want to marry me, do you?”
“It’s a secret, hush. Wait, no, not that part. I don’t know. You asked me, remember? I need my magic. I can’t do anything without magic. What did they do to me that I can’t feel my magic?”
“Hail? What if you told them everything?”
“Then I’ve betrayed my family and should die, slowly and painfully.”
“I think you’re tired, Hail. Take a nap, and we can figure something out later.” Before I could protest, she was guiding me somewhere. With my blindness, I was helpless and completely reliant on her.
* * *
I woke with a shout and tried to sit up before I realized I was strapped down. It was dark, but I could see I was back in the medical lab. There was a rusty knife lying on the pan next to the bed, alongside stitches and scissors. I looked down and found my chest was open, a gaping wound bleeding profusely. I started to scream, but the assistant was there, putting her hand over my mouth.
“Answer the question. Where is your father?” the doctor asked, holding up a needle full of blue liquid. “We can do this with or without force, but you will tell me. Even if it’s in your sleep, you will tell me. Where is your father?”
My chest hurt so badly I couldn’t even stop screaming, so he stuck the needle in my arm.
* * *
I woke screaming and thrashing, but this time my restraints gave.
“Hail! Stop, you’re going to hurt yourself!” Sari cried.
I stopped trying to get up and instead focused on breathing through the pain in my chest. Blindly, I touched the bandage over my chest and felt something warm and wet. I licked my finger and confirmed that it was blood. “Am I dreaming?”
“No, you were dreaming. You were screaming in your dream.”
“But I could see. Maybe this is the dream. Maybe everything I tell you, I’m actually telling them.”
“This isn’t a dream. I’m really here, and you really escaped.”
“It was too easy. The escape was too easy; this has to be a dream. You were way too calm about meeting the demon. You tricked me into telling them all about my family.”
“I didn’t trick you! You told me willingly. I don’t know if you told them, but this is real.”
“I can’t be sure. I can’t even see you. Of course, you’d never ask me to marry you. That’s proof this is a dream.” I stumbled to my feet, ignoring the pain, and tried to walk off in any direction that was away from Sari. Or at least the Sari imposter. Actually, I thought I managed quite well considering the pain.
“I didn’t ask you to marry me! I was just trying to encourage you! I mean, I thought we were going to die.”
“But none of it was real. You are actually out there, free, and far away, while I lay on the operating table with my chest open and a mad doctor trying to get me to spill my secrets.”
“Then why are you walking away? If you think this is a dream, what’s the point of walking away?” she asked, obviously exasperated.
“Because I don’t want to tell you any more secrets.”
“Then don’t tell me! Besides, you already told me everything.”
“I didn’t tell you that Ron has the balance of the universe inside him or that Mordon’s adopted son, Sen’s father is a future mage from a world that hasn’t even been created yet.”
“What?! Stop telling me this!” she screamed.
The pain in my chest made me stumble and collapse. I felt her wrap her arms around me gently and wanted to push her away, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. As much as I didn’t want her to see me weak, I needed comfort.
“I can’t see anything.”
“I know.”
“I’m scared.”
“That’s okay. It’s okay to be afraid; fear makes you stronger. Fear keeps you on your guard, ready for anything. Just don’t be afraid of me. I want to help you, but I need your help, too, so just don’t run from me.”
“I can’t see, I can’t talk to Ron, and I don’t have magic. I don’t know what’s real.” I was hyperventilating, which only made my chest hurt worse. This was as bad as when I was little and I couldn’t tell the difference between my visions and reality.
“I’m real. Your mother will save us soon, so just try to stay calm.”
“I don’t want to be Noquodi of Raktusha.”
“I don’t know what that is, but I’m sure you don’t have to be anything you don’t want to be.”
“But Ron wants to. I hate Vretial. He’s like the opposite of Ron, and that has to be a bad thing, but I can’t disappoint my brother. If I choose Avoli, then Ron doesn’t get to be Noquodi, but if I choose Vretial, then I have to see him all the time.”
“I think you need to discuss this with Ron. It sounds like it’s more about him than this situation. Come on; let’s see if we can find some clean water to drink.”
“There’s no point at all if I don’t get my magic back. My magic protects Ron. I’m no good to anyone without magic.”
“You’re still my friend, and you’re still Ron’s brother.”
* * *
Once again, I was on the table, screaming through the pain. The doctor smirked down at me, his face just barely visible since the light was angled away from him. “Ready to go again? I think we should talk about your mother this time.”
“No, please,” I gasped over the pain. I think it was more emotional pain than physical. My chest was mostly numb now, cold and numb, but I couldn’t bear to look down.
“Your mother consorts with gods, right?”
“No.”
“You’re lying. Tell me about your mother and be honest, or I will know.” He picked up several little silver disks off the table next to the bed and stuck two of them on my forehead. Instantly, on contact with my skin, they began to burn. “All the pain stops the moment you are honest with me. See, you told me about your father, and I made the pain in your chest stop. Now tell me about your mother.”
Suddenly, I was in the cage again with no pain in my chest, and the doctor was sitting in the chair by the door, writing something on his clipboard.
“Very interesting,” he said vaguely. It could have been a trap. “I thought your father was more fascinating, but it seems I should have been focused on your mother the entire time. Continue.”
* * *
This time I didn’t bother to thrash, scream, or even run. Whether I was dreaming or awake, it was very possible that I told them everything.
“Prove to me you’re real,” I said.
“How?”
“Tell me something I don’t know, something the doctor at the lab wouldn’t know, either.”
“Well… The Sekora Era was the first time people started writing poems. Actually, they wrote them exclusively in Vido, because they thought Vido looked prettiest, and poems back then were all romance. In the Jeske Era, people started writing horror poems and sad poems, but they started writing them in Modo. Most poems from those days were never translated into Sudo because of their sentimental value.”
“That is definitely something I didn’t know,” I laughed
“I found water, but I don’t know if it’s clean, and I can’t do enough magic to check it out. If we were just camping, I could boil out any impurities, but I don’t have anything to boil with or put water in.”
“What about food?”
“I have no idea what plants might be edible here, and I haven’t seen an actual animal. How do prisoners
even live here?”
“Probably by eating other prisoners.”
“What?!”
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.”
“No, you shouldn’t have. We are in a shallow-mouthed cave at the moment. I dragged some tree branches in front of it to hide the entrance, but I doubt it’ll last for long. When you’re feeling better, I’ll go out and look for something to boil water it. Maybe there is an abandoned can or something.”
“They do genetic experiments here; I wouldn’t trust anything. Without magic, we’re just going to have to wait this out. No water, no food. Remember the year the Katshiyuri were found? They had been hidden on Canjii for two years and created a biological weapon that killed every living thing on Canjii for five years until a cure was found.”
“Yes, I heard about it. It took a month to kill the victims and it was very nasty the way they died. But if we just wait in here, we’ll die. I bet your friend can’t even find us in here.”
“He’s not my friend, he’s my father’s demon, and if I’m about to die, he has to do everything in his power to save me. Hiding in a cave wouldn’t stop---” I put my hand over my mouth before I revealed the Xul’s name, because the power in a demon’s name was as powerful as the demon himself. It wasn’t about trust; not even Edward knew the demon’s true name. The only reason Ron and I knew it was because we were a factor in the deal Dad made with the ancient demon. We usually called him “Zeb” aloud.
“It looks like they gave you something at the lab that makes you tell the truth, or at least more than you should.”
“They had a blue liquid of some sort. I saw it before I lost my sight.”
“If you did tell them everything, are they a threat to you?”
“If I told them everything, yes. They know where I live and if I told them about my parents, they’ll try something.”
“What about Ron?”
“There is nothing that could make me betray Ron. I could betray myself, my parents, my uncle, you… anyone under some kind of drug or magic, but not Ron. We are entirely incapable of harming each other in anyway… at least we should be.”
“Did something change recently?”
“No. It’s just that Dad and Mordon are the same as Ron and me, and I saw…”
“One of your visions?”
“Yes. I saw Mordon kill my father, which is the second most impossible thing in the universe. The first, of course, being Ron and me hurting each other. And if you knew my parents, you would know there isn’t much in this universe that is impossible.”
“Maybe it was faked.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, completely lost.
“Maybe you didn’t really see Mordon killing your father. Maybe one of the gods is messing with your visions in order to make you see it, to distract you or something. Or maybe it’s a trick to make you doubt your bond with Ron, or Mordon’s with your father’s.”
That would have made sense if Ron and I didn’t have a magical barrier over each other’s minds. Not even a god was able to so much as read my mind without an invitation. The only one powerful was… Zero.
We heard nothing about Zero, Nila’s father, or the demon army in nearly five years. That meant for five years, none of us were comfortable enough to relax even in our own home. If Zero was finally acting again, it was going to change everything.
“Hail?” Sari asked when I said nothing.
“That would imply one of the gods is my enemy. I so wish it was Vretial.” I was extremely happy I didn’t blurt out everything I knew about the creature who was more powerful than a god.
“Why would you want the dark god to be trying to hurt you?”
“Because Ron would never stand for it, so we wouldn’t have to go work for him. Vretial isn’t the all-powerful, malevolent being that sago think he is. Instead, he just bothers me, deep inside. It’s never something he says or does, I just hate him and I don’t know why.”
“It’s because of Ron,” Mordon said.
I would recognize his voice anywhere, but couldn’t feel his presence without my magic. Apparently, he appeared out of nowhere, because Sari shrieked. I reached out towards her screaming to quiet her and instead felt the arm of my uncle, who moved to sit next to me. Sari finally calmed down, probably having recognized him. Of course, I had no idea how dark this cave was.
Mordon touched my face gently to turn me towards him. “They did a number on you, kid. Does it hurt badly?”
“Yes. I don’t know what they did. I’m afraid they might have used drugs on me to make me tell the truth.”
“They did. You told them everything about everyone except for Ron. You even told them the demon’s name. That’s why he can’t find your brother; he is a danger to those he’s around because the enemy can get control of him, so unless your danger outweighs his power, he cannot find any of us.”
I tried not to fall apart. I was never one to cry, but it would have been especially embarrassing in front of Sari and Rojan. Unfortunately, my second response was to get angry, and that would have been even more inappropriate. I was so ashamed and didn’t know how to express it.
I needed Ron.
I realized then that the pain was fading fast and wanted to tell Mordon to stop. I didn’t deserve to be healed.
“I can only heal your pain, not your vision. Hopefully your father can fix your eyes. I don’t know what happened to your magic. All I know is your bond with magic couldn’t have been severed, because Ronez died when he lost his.”
“I deserve to die after betraying everyone.”
“It wasn’t your fault, and don’t worry about the ones who did this; I’ll take care of it. You’re just going to have to wait here for a few days. This is actually the safest place for you now. She can find you, but you’re not a threat, so she’ll leave you alone.”
“What? Who will?”
“You’ll need this, I can’t be sure how long you’ll have to stay here and I doubt I’ll be able to make it back here. You wouldn’t believe how long I’ve been trying.” He shoved a cloth sack into my hands.
“What are you talking about?! You’re not making any sense.”
“He’s gone,” Sari said.
I reached out and didn’t feel my uncle. Why would he leave me? Sari sat next to me and took the bag. I didn’t care, I was just reeling that my uncle left me alone on Canjii, blind and injured.
“It’s food and water,” she said, taking my hand and wrapping my fingers around a plastic water bottle. I refused to drink at first, and when she politely gave me the option to either drink it or drown, my stomach rebelled.
In my despair, it was the first time I ever wished Dylan had never found me on Earth. The demon could have killed me and I would never have grown up to betray the only man who ever treated me like a son. Sure, Nano tried, and Vretial was just as much to blame for my birth, but Dylan was the man who never treated me as anything less than his beloved child. I was never second to Ron for Dylan or Divina. And I betrayed them.
“If you don’t cheer up right now, I’m going to beat you so hard, Ron will have bruises.”
Chapter 4
Ron
I stood in the center of a room. Three walls were white while one was clear glass showing an identical room where Hail stood. He looked at me without speaking, and somehow I knew he wouldn’t hear me if I called to him.
A hand came down gently on my shoulder and I turned to see my uncle. “Mordon. What’s going on?” Something was odd. There was something not right about his eyes.
He put his finger to his lips to shush me. “She will hear you.”
“Who?” I whispered.
“The demons are ready to attack. You need a weapon.”
“Mom has the god sword and you have the azurath blade.”
“Find the mage king’s staff. Bring it to me.”
“Dad destroyed that.”
“No, he did not. Find it.”
* * *
I woke quickly, startlin
g Sen out of sleep. Before he could ask me anything, I flashed to the Land of the Iadnah. This was not Vretial’s normal lounge but what my dad called, “the Council Room.” It was a white room, which I found very irritating. As soon as I arrived, every god except Vretial and my mother appeared.
“Hello, Ron,” Avoli said pleasantly. He was afraid of me, which I was glad of.
“Hello, Avoli. I called you all together because I had an odd vision. It wasn’t like Hail’s visions, but it wasn’t just a dream, either. In this vision, Mordon warned me that the demon war is starting.”
The gods all looked at each other, as if waiting to see each other’s fear before they could betray their own. “Maybe it was just a dream,” Regivus finally said.
“It’s been five years; more than enough time. Hail and I have been separated. If the demons are ever going to attack, now is their chance. I want us to be ready.”
“You are so sure we will fight beside your father,” Azenoth said. “This is not really even our fight.”
“You will fight beside him or become my enemy. My dad is the best ally you could have, while I am a worse enemy than Vretial. Zero will return, and when he does, you want my father fighting him.”
They all contemplated this for a moment before Regivus nodded. “We have already established that we would support Dylan. That means in every battle.”
Encouraged by his brother, Avoli spoke up. “My world is able to sustain life, but there is no sentient creature living there yet. You can use it for your war. When you are ready, we will transport everyone willing to fight for Dylan to Lore.”
I worried, however, that the mortals wouldn’t have enough power to fight the demons. “Those weapons… the ones in the god wars? Where can I find them?”
“They are spread out. We cannot find them,” Erono said.
“Who can?”
“Rilryn and Nano,” Zir said.
“Assign them to find those weapons. Assign the rest of the Guardians to the hunt as well. Dad and Edward are working on something already. I don’t know what, but I’m sure it’s important.”